The present invention refers to an articulated rod for a hip support.
It is known that hip supports are surgical medical appliances that are used when a person has problems of hip dislocation, more in particular in the cases where the head of the femur tends to come out of its own seat in the hip. Elderly people, and in particular women, have problems of this kind, which are usually dealt with by resorting a surgical operation for reconstruction of the head of the femur by means of a titanium prosthesis. Following upon a surgical operation of this kind, it is necessary to provide appropriate protections for the hip, at least for the period immediately following on the operation, in order to prevent the head of the femur from coming out of its seat.
For a long time now there have been available on the market hip supports that are made up of a pelvis harness, which embraces the patient""s pelvis, and a thigh harness, which embraces the patient""s thigh. The pelvis harness and thigh harness are connected together by means of an articulated rod which limits the patient""s movements so as to prevent any movements that might prove dangerous for the patient.
A traditional articulated rod comprises a first element, designed to be connected to the pelvis harness, and a second element, designed to be connected to the thigh harness. Set between the first element and the second element is a hinge that enables mutual rotation of the two elements.
The hinge is made up of two adjacent disks, each of which is provided with a slot along its own periphery. The two disks are set one on top of the other in such a way that also the slots overlap at least partially, so as to identify an opening, the length of which is adjustable. Along its own periphery, each of the two disks is provided with teeth, between which a wedged-shaped element can be introduced, which blocks the two disks together in such a way as to form a single monolithic element provided with the opening formed by the overlapping slots of the two disks.
The first element of the articulated rod is fixed to one of the two disks, whilst a third plate provided with a pin is associated to the other disk in such a way that it can rotate. The said pin is inserted in the opening identified by the two partially overlapping slots.
The third plate ends in an extension provided with an articulation which enables the second element of the articulated rod to rotate with respect to the first element, so as to bring the former element up to or move it away from the patient""s thigh and thus adapt the articulated rod to the conformation of the patient""s leg.
The articulation is formed when a plane portion of the extension of the third plate, which is provided on one free surface with a toothing. The said toothing meshes with a corresponding toothing of an end portion of the second element of the articulated rod. The toothings are then blocked by means of a screw.
The traditional rod described above is used after prior setting of the length of the opening identified by the overlapping slots according to instructions given by a doctor. Setting is achieved by rotating the first plate with respect to the second plate. Subsequently, the articulation is set by adapting it to the physical structure of the patient. Next, the articulated rod can be mounted, on one side on the pelvis harness, and on the other side on the thigh harness. At this point, the hip support is""ready to be worn.
The aforesaid articulated rod for a traditional hip support is notoriously not only difficult to adjust, but regulating it is extremely laborious and only relatively precise.
In addition, when the rod is mounted on a hip support that is to be worn by a person who has some physical defect or, more simply, who is particularly fat or particularly thin, usually it assumes an inappropriate position and may cause discomfort to the patient who is wearing the hip support.
A purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the technical problems referred to above by providing an articulated rod for a hip support that can be adjusted in a simple, fast, and moreover substantially precise way.
Another purpose of the present invention is to provide an articulated rod for a hip support that is always properly positioned on the hip support, independently of the physical characteristics of the patient wearing the latter; this, in particular, in order not to induce distress or discomfort in the user.
Not the least important purpose of the present invention is to provide a an articulation rod for a hip support that is basically simple, safe, and reliable.
These and other purposes according to the present invention are achieved by providing an articulated rod for a hip support according to Claim 1.
Other characteristics of the present invention are moreover defined in the ensuing claims.
Advantageously, the articulated rod according to the present invention can be mounted on various types of hip supports, with the only limitation that the pelvis harness and thigh harness should be provided with seats suitable for receiving the said articulated rod.